Mak Mak - secret entrance to Thai heaven

https://www.landmark.hk/en/dining/mak-mak

I had no idea!  Seriously.

Every morning, I'd been walking through the Landmark on the way to work and had passed Mak Mak thinking that the funky looking little spot was a blend of Thai grocery store and a cafe doing 'take away' coffee in the morning.  On first appearances, Mak Mak is exactly that; a small kiosk like area that served take away drinks.

And it is that, and so much more.

My first experience that there could be so much more to the retro looking replica of a traditional Thai grocery shopfront was having a quick bite to eat with a work colleague.  We had a short window in between meetings, and she suggested a quick bite to eat in a great little Thai restaurant that she knew, right next to our workplace.  Everyone loves good Thai, right?  

As JP took me to the front of Mak Mak, I thought to myself, where the heck are we going to eat lunch?

All was revealed when a secret button was pressed and a wall slowly recessed into the wall and the true nature of Mak Mak was revealed!  Hidden behind the grocery facade was a sixty seat 'Thai residence-style' dining area and it literally blew my mind!

That first experience in the newest restaurant in the prodigious JAI group string of restaurants was enough to get me talking, and it wasn't long before I'd arranged for a visit with the girl.

LONgTIME - definitely a funky spot

http://longtime.com.au

Not long before I moved away from Brisbane, a cool sounding little restaurant opened up in the Valley called LONgTIME.  I'd walked past a couple of times and made the rookie mistake of looking at the bar area outside, assuming it was the dining area and thinking 'Meh.

I'd never really given the modern Thai restaurant much of a thought until we came back to Brisbane for a short visit and arranged to go along with good mates.  You can imagine my surprise when I arrived for our dinner and found a huge and contemporary looking dining room, wrapped around an open kitchen, hidden from street view.  I was gob smacked!

It didn't surprise me that it was one of the hottest dining spots in Brisbane and a favourite of our Brisbane buds Thommo and Druce.  It was just the sort of hip and out of the way place that would appeal to our friends, who regaled us with stories of former visits and amazing food.  I literally couldn't wait to get cracking...

But, wait I did.  I'd arrived a little early and Thommo and Druce, who'd been entertaining SC, were quite late.  So, I had the opportunity to sit in the dining room and watch it slowly, then quickly fill up as I waited for my dining companions.  At least I was comfortable and it did give me the opportunity to admire the fit-out, which was solid looking wood tables and chairs and green leaf covered chandeliers, bringing the outside in.

Mons Ban Sabai - reminded me of why I love Thai

http://www.monsbansabai.com/

Everyone has their favourite Thai place and usually it's quite local and within short walking distance. Living in the CBD has robbed me of a local Thai restaurant, although, believe it or not Jo Jo's in the CBD has a pretty mean Thai red curry beef that I indulge in from time to time (see post here). But when I think about our time in the 'burbs, we always had a great Thai restaurant within walking distance (although we'd normally drive, but that's another story).

In years gone by, I'd have ranked Thai as my favourite Asian cuisine but for some reason, I stopped eating Thai food, I think I'd just eaten too much of a good thing and went off it.  SC will tell a tale a little bit different, a story where I'd read an article that Thai food was the highest in calories.  Pffft, as if! Anyway, for what ever reason we stopped eating so much Thai food and Japanese became the preferred Asian cuisine (I mean gyoza and sashimi, right?!)

So I was intrigued when I was invited along to an Instagram event at one of Brisbane's best loved Thai restaurants, Mons Ban Sabai in Camp Hill.  Mons Ban Sabai, which is a mouthful of a name, is part of the Venzin Group, which runs a number of Asian inspired restaurants, most notably renowned breakfast spot Paw Paw Cafe (see post here).  I'd never been to Mons Ban Sabai before and a quick look online to see where exactly in Camp Hill I needed to go told me that it was definitely going to be a SatNav job in the car.